Corn cob products have been known in the art for many years and new uses are developed each year. Corn cob products are used for abrasives, face powder compositions, animal bedding, absorbents for removing oil spills from the surfaces of bodies of water, as a cellulosic raw material for the molding of furniture components, as carrier for agricultural chemicals, pesticides, etc., and many other uses.
Apparatus and various processes for reducing the raw material corn cobs on a commercial basis are also known in the art. For example, Bulletin AIC 336 of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, published in May 1952, discusses various apparatus and processing steps.
It has been found that since the publication of the above-identified bulletin, the processing of corn cobs has become more and more complex as the market expands into many different fields. Problems have arisen in the processing of cobs for different markets.
As is well known, the cob is divided into several parts, namely, the chaff, the woody ring and the pith. While each of these parts are cellulosic in nature, their physical properties are quite different. For example, the woody ring portion is quite dense and is most adaptable to abrasive type products, while other components are used for animal feed.
Another problem which has been found in the industry is that the raw materials, namely the corn cobs themselves, are becoming much more difficult to obtain. While at one time the raw material was strictly a "waste product" from the food industry, at the present time the corn cob itself has become more and more important while the source of the raw material is much less plentiful.
It is therefore important that the process of reducing corn cobs becomes more efficient and that the final product becomes more uniform, clean, and dependable.